Residence, hotel, art gallery, boutique – there is no single definition for Savona 18 Suites, a highly interesting renovation project designed by Aldo Cibic and which was inaugurated in the Tortona area of Milan during the last edition of the Salone del Mobile.
The retro outer shell is that of a typically Milanese dwelling, the tenement with communal balcony created in the early twentieth century as council flats and characterized by the sharing of the courtyard and access balconies between the different condominiums; inside there are 43 bedrooms, each different from another, preceded by a hall that encloses and anticipates the style of all the rooms: neutral tones and minimalism predominate, the bright colours of the pictures and design objects, vintage and contemporary taste that blend into a welcoming, intimate atmosphere.
One-off pieces decorate the rooms ranging from items with a certain historical charm to colourful accessories by Cibic and Paola C .; guests can not just watch but also buy, in an unusually participatory experience.
Rigid layouts dictated by function disappear and the objective of a dynamic relationship between man and space prevails; the Milanese building typology par excellence widens its “communion” spirit and opens the courtyard to anyone whose suite overlooks it.
A large living room without a roof means that the modern, lively and cosmopolitan city breathes a bit of its past, in balance with a modernity that is revealed in the increasingly blurred border between public and private.
PROJECT Savona 18 Suites
ARCHITECT Aldo Cibic – Cibicworkshop with Aria Bebeheani and Tommaso Corà
LOCATION Milan, Italy
YEAR 2018
PHOTO Adelaide Saviano, Matteo Piazza
AUTHOR Sara FERRARA
BIOGRAPHY
ALDO CIBIC WAS BORN IN VICENZA IN 1955. IN 1981, AS A MEMBER OF THE SOTTSASS ASSOCIATI HE WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF MEMPHIS. IN 2010, HE ESTABLISHED THE CIBIC WORKSHOP, A MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CENTRE DEDICATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN TYPES FOR THE DEFINITION OF A NEW AWARENESS OF PUBLIC SPACES. HE IS INVOLVED IN TEACHING ACTIVITIES AT A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ITALIAN AND FOREIGN UNIVERSITIES.
MAIN PROJECTS
(In)complete, Research project, 2018
Staff International Diesel OTB Headquarters,
Noventa Vicentina, Italy, 2016
Technosouk, La Rinascente Milano, Italy, 2015
Elephountain, Milan, Italy, 2013
Teatro Ristori, Verona, Italy, 2012
Rethinking Happiness, Biennale di
Venezia, Venice, Italy, 2010
Pocket Landscape, Milan, Italy, 2009
